SPE-173690-MS

Fishing Coiled Tubing With Internal Weld Seams and Failed BPVs in a Live
Well Environment Using Hydraulic Workover (HWO)
Ralph McDaniel, HalliburtonBoots and Coots

Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing & Well Intervention Conference & Exhibition held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 24 25
March 2015.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
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Abstract
This paper examines techniques necessary to fish coiled tubing (CT) with internal weld seams in a live
well environment without back pressure valves (BPVs) using a hydraulic workover unit (HWO). The
challenges of placing barriers in internal seamed CT verses using the slip and shear method is addressed.
The discussed onshore operation was completed August 2013 in North America. Using the techniques
described, a 14,000-ft (4267 m) 2-in. (50.8-mm) CT fish was successfully removed from a well with an
average surface pressure of 5,500 psi. This was achieved by first opening the blind rams, snubbing in, and
dressing off the CT fish. Next, the CT fish was latched with an overshot and a pull test was performed,
pressure was equalized, and the slip and pipe rams were opened. Following, the CT fish was picked up
and moved to a desired location in the blowout preventer (BOP) stack (approximately 51 ft 4 in.). The slip
rams were then closed and a weight check was performed. The pipe rams and inverted rams were then
closed. The CT fish was shear/cut, the pipe was picked up and the blind rams were closed. This was
concluded by laying down the fish and the process was repeated 276 times with an average cut of 50 ft.
The HWO fishing procedures consisted of 541 hours without any health, safety, or environment (HSE)
incidents, accidents, injuries, or job failures.

Job Summary
An operator was performing a frac plug milling operation in central Louisiana. After milling the last brass
tipped aluminum frac plug, CT became stuck while being pulled out of hole (POOH). The assumption at
the time was that there might not have been enough annular velocity to return the heavy cuttings to
surface. To attempt to free the CT, the crew repeatedly pumped down the backside as well as the tubing.
The (BPVs) failed, allowing 6,600 psi of pressure in the tubing at the surface. With the CT stuck downhole
and the BPVs leaking, a decision was made to cut the pipe. When the CT was sheared, the internal
pressure of 6,000 psi was released in the BOP stack and on top of the pipe rams, which had 800 psi of
pressure below. The 5,200-psi differential pushed the ram blocks down and off seal, which allowed the
well to flow downward across the closed pipe rams. Bottomhole pressure (BHP) at the end of the CT was
reduced and therefore allowed gas to enter the CT. Within a few hours, the surface pressure rose from
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6,600 to 11,000 psi. The slip rams were opened and the CT fell, allowing the top frac valve to be closed.
The middle and lower frac valves could not be closed. CT was rigged down.
A 340K HWO unit was rigged up and tested as per Fig. 1. Once the HWO unit was rigged up, the next
step was to confirm the location of the top of the fish. A slickline (SL) unit was rigged up on top of the
HWO unit. SL was run in hole (RIH) with a 6 1/2-in. lead impression block (LIB) against 11,000 psi and
tagged the top of coil in the middle of the middle frac valve. The SL unit was rigged down.
SPE-173690-MS 3

Figure 1A 340K HWO unit was rigged up and tested.

4 SPE-173690-MS

The next step was to reconnect to the CT fish. The HWO was snubbed in against 11,000 psi with 6
1/2-in. overshot dressed with a 2-in. grapple and two nipples with plugs in place. The fish was latched and
pulled 29 ft at 31,000 lbf and secured in two slip rams. Two 2 1/16-in. 15K gate valves were installed on
top of a 2 3/8-in. work string. Pipe rams and inverted pipe rams were closed on the 2-in. CT and 50 bbl
of 11.8-lbm/gal calcium bromide was bullheaded down the 2-in. CT with a final pressure of 6,400 psi.
Annulus pressure was 10,400 psi.
SL was rigged up to pull both plugs from the nipples. Then, SL was used to swage open the CT fish
inside the overshot with a 1.5-in. swage. The SL unit was rigged down.
The next step was to cut the CT as deeply as possible. Electric line (EL) was rigged up and a 1.375-in.
gauge ring was run to 14,000 ft. The 2-in. CT had 5,600 psi and the annulus had 11,800 psi. A total of
250 bbl of 11.8-lbm/gal calcium bromide was circulated. The 2-in. CT had 5,400 psi and the annulus had
6,050 psi. The operator RIH and jet cut at 14,000 ft. The EL was then POOH and rigged down.
Pipe was moved with 21K pipe weight to confirm the cut. EL was rigged up and 42 bbl was bullheaded
down the CT. The operator RIH and set the first bridge plug at 11,800 ft. A 5K negative test was
performed on the plug for 30 minutes. The operator then RIH with the second bridge plug and set it 30
ft higher at 11,770 ft. As soon as the second plug was set, both plugs leaked. The operator RIH with the
third bridge plug and set it at 11,200 ft. Following, 4.5K negative plug leaking was performed. The
operator RIH with the fourth bridge plug and set it at 10,200 ft. A 4.5K negative test was performed. The
operator RIH and the fifth bridge plug was set at 10,100 ft. EL was rigged down and the CT was bleed
to 0 psi. The overshot was removed and the HWO unit was rigged down. All plugs leaked 5,600 psi on
the CT.
The decision was made to disregard placing plugs in the CT with the weld flash because five
consecutive plugs had leaked. As Fig. 2 illustrates, the weld flash can present a difficult challenge for
standard elastomers. It can be very difficult for an elastomer to mold itself into a 90 right angle
configuration with a standoff of 0.120 in. and still maintain a seal in excess of 5,000 psi. The surface
pressure had been as high as 11,800 psi.
SPE-173690-MS 5

Figure 2Weld flash.

The next step was to rig up the HWO unit and proceed with the slip/shear fishing method. An overshot
was run in the hole and the CT fish was latched and pulled more than 50 ft. The fish was secured with
slip rams and sheared. The sheared 50-ft section was laid down. The slip/shear method was continued for
five additional cuts before the CT fish fell out of the overshot.
At this point, it was determined that the fishing needed to occur in the wellbore, rather than the BOP
stack. The CT fish was latched, pulled back into the BOP stack, and the slip/shear method continued. A
total of 276 cuts were made with an average length of more than 50 ft each. Once the fish was removed,
the HWO unit was rigged down. Table 1 illustrates that it is possible to retrieve more than 900 ft in a
12-hour day with 6,000 psi at surface.
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Table 112-hour day.

Est. Daily Retrieval Est. Total Retrieval
Date Daily Cuts Total Cuts Memo (ft) (ft)

15-Aug 1 1 Jet Cutter

30-Aug 1 2 51 51
31-Aug 5 7 255 305
3-Sep 1 8 Dropped 51 356
4-Sep 8 16 407 764
5-Sep 14 30 713 1,476
6-Sep 1 31 Dropped 51 1,527
8-Sep 9 40 458 1,985
9-Sep 12 52 611 2,596
10-Sep 14 66 713 3,309
11-Sep 9 75 458 3,767
12-Sep 14 89 713 4,480
13-Sep 14 103 713 5,193
14-Sep 11 114 560 5,753
15-Sep 8 122 407 6,160
16-Sep 16 138 815 6,975
17-Sep 16 154 815 7,789
18-Sep 16 170 815 8,604
19-Sep 14 184 713 9,316
20-Sep 8 192 407 9,724
21-Sep 5 197 255 9,978
22-Sep 18 215 916 10,895
23-Sep 18 233 916 11,811
24-Sep 15 248 764 12,575
25-Sep 18 266 916 13,491
26-Sep 10 276 509 14,000

Issues
The topic of preforming annular velocity (AV) calculations on the composite plug including the heavy
metals is beyond the scope of this paper; rather, the focus is on lessons learned from the time the pipe
became stuck until the fish was retrieved.
Listed below are options for the operator if the CT becomes stuck and the BPVs are not sealing:
Kill the well with kill weight fluids.
Spot a swellable solution.
Spot cement.
Freeze and cut CT.
Shear/cut CT and endless possible solutions.
Shear rams are good for cutting pipe and stopping uncontrolled flow. However, shear rams have caused
several underground blowouts when they are closed on tubing with a higher surface pressure than the
annulus. Uncontrolled flow allows the workover fluids to be replaced with formation fluids and gas, which
can reduce hydrostatic pressure. Once the shear rams are closed, the higher pressure is exposed to the top
of the annulus fluids because BOPs are not designed for pressure from the top.
It is possible that the well could have been circulated or bullheaded and the pressure could have been
stabilized under 6,000 psi. Some plugs do a fair job of sealing the weld flash at low pressures; however
using a bridge plug to seal in the weld flash at high pressures greater than 10,000 psi with a 0.120-in. weld
flash (as in the project discussed) is not recommended.
SPE-173690-MS 7

Therefore, the question remains regarding what type of plug has a good record of sealing on weld flash
at high pressures. Freezing, swellable, and cementing methods are good options that can mold themselves
to the irregular IDs presented by the weld flash. Bridge plugs and inflatables packers perform fair in lower
pressure environments. Fig. 3 illustrates a decision tree with several options for tested barriers available
without shearing the CT. Shearing is always an option and more often with weld flash present.

Figure 3Decision tree.

Conclusions
If the weld flash is removed, most plugs on the market have a good chance of sealing within their working
pressure range unless extreme ovality is present. The real problem is that weld flash cannot be removed
from a CT tapered string, which accounts for more than 90% of the CT manufactured in 2013. The
advantage of the tapered string is that it increases operating depths, which is quite desirable. The inside
cutter is currently fixed in place and will not move to accept a change in tubing ID or wall thickness.
Currently, no bridge plug manufacturers promote plugs that seal on a weld flash without applying
cement on top. This is because the weld flash prevents one of the slip segments from engaging the CT and
also makes sealing almost impossible because the weld flash protrudes at a 90 angle from the inside wall
up to 0.120 in. Fig. 4 illustrates 2-in. CT with the weld flash removed on the left and 2-in. CT with the
weld flash installed on the right.
8 SPE-173690-MS

Figure 4 (Left) 2-in. CT with the weld flash removed; (right) 2-in. CT with the weld flash installed.

Its almost a no-brainer to understand the difficulties relating to setting a bridge plug and maintaining
a seal in a high pressure environment with the weld flash in place (Fig. 4, right). It is fairly easy to have
the weld flash removed during the manufacturing process if the string has the same wall at a cost of less
than USD 1 dollar/ft.
Recommendations
In todays well environment, a good philosophy is that, if you cannot seal it, do not put it in the well. This
is true for almost everything except CT with a weld flash. Tapered CT is desirable in some instances, but
also comes with risks. Failure to seal can lead to one of the following scenarios:
Kill fluid as the only barrier.
Killing a USD multimillion fracture job.
Pumping cement and hoping for the best.
Pumping something swellable.
Pumping something that sets up.
Freezing the CT.
HWO unit employing a slip and shear fishing method, which produces almost 1,000 ft per day
of CT fish at almost any wellhead pressure with 21 different BOPs and valves.
Shearing and worrying about it later.

The author recommends only running flash free CT. However, the weld flash cannot currently be
removed from tapered CT, which is more than 90% of the market. Therefore, operators must be prepared
for one of the above discussed scenarios. Fig. 5 illustrates just the BOP stack required to fish CT under
pressure using the slip/shear method.
SPE-173690-MS 9

Figure 5Just the BOP stack required to fish CT under pressure using the slip/shear method.